How This 1968 Brighton Home Got A Sensitive, Energy-Efficient Revival
Architecture
The north-facing courtyard. Jil Table and Tidal Chairs, both by Tait.
Garden design by Fiona Brockhoff brings the outdoor entertaining area to life. Jil Table and Tidal Chairs, both by Tait.
Seamless indoor-outdoor flow from the courtyard to the living areas.
Pendant from Koda Lighting. Inax Format Flat tiles from Artedomus. Tempest Quartzite benchtop from CDK Stone.
Inax Format Flat tiles from Artedomus. Tempest Quartzite bench from CDK Stone. New kitchen joinery has been matched to the old teak.
Galet Wool Carpet in Sage by Bremworth. The low-back chair was bought with the house and has been reupholstered in Atelier Luxury velvet by Instyle. Bronze sculpture from Pépite.
Original dining table and chairs, bought from the previous owner. Pendant from Koda Lighting. Bunny lamp by Deborah Halpern. Jug from Pépite.
The original stained glass remains in the partition from the bar into the kitchen and dining area.
Bower Architecture designed the teak-stained timber shelving in Andrew’s study. Galet Wool Carpet in Sage by Bremworth.
Eliza and Andrew in the study. Art by Conchita Carambano.
The evening living room wraps around one side of the courtyard. Galet Wool Carpet in Sienna by Bremworth. Custom made sofa by Pash Furniture & Homewares.
Rubn Lighting Miller wall light from Fred International. Throw by Curio Practice. Vase from Pépite.
The main en suite. Grigio Orsola floor tiles, Inax Tsuya-Washi wall tiles, bath, and basins from Artedomus. Tempest Quartzite benchtop from CDK Stone.
Inax Tsuya-Washi wall tiles bath, and basins from Artedomus. Tempest Quartzite benchtop from CDK Stone.
Cotto Manetti Arrotato Da Crudo Rustic tiles from Artedomus. Tempest Quartzite benchtop from CDK Stone.
The spare bedroom en suite. Cotto Manetti Arrotato Da Crudo Rustic tiles from Artedomus.
The entrance. Arterrazzo Rosaio floor tiles from Artedomus.
It took just eight minutes for Eliza and Andrew to fall in love with this Brighton property in 2021.
‘We raced through the house from 9.20 to 9.28am and bought it online two hours later!’ Eliza recalls.
‘We weren’t even able to take a builder or engineer through it.’
Fortunately for the couple, the bones of this property are something special.
Designed in 1968 by Harry Ernest — known for numerous homes built across Melbourne’s south-east in the late modernist period — this house follows a C-shaped plan that wraps around a north-facing courtyard.
What captured Eliza and Andrew’s hearts were its beautifully preserved mid-century features: teak cabinetry, textured wallpaper, exposed brick walls, and even an oversized living room bar.
Determined to honour its heritage, the couple engaged Bower Architecture & Interiors for a sensitive renovation — bucking the suburb trend of demolishing mid-century gems.
‘We all loved that the original house was exceptional in its street due to it being unassuming,’ says Anna Dutton Lourie, co-director of Bower Architecture & Interiors. ‘A single storey villa in Brighton is now extremely rare!’
The Bower team dived into researching Ernest’s work, visiting another of his homes that came up for sale during the design process, and even meeting the architect (now in his 90s) in person.
‘He had fond memories of details, such as carefully selecting the brown smooth bricks and their Flemish bond, the low-slung and restrained expression from the street, and the focus around the courtyard,’ says Anna.
‘He was excited by the light touch approach [we] wished to take, and that the house was being given new love.’
Just over 15 square metres was added to the home, allowing space for a butler’s pantry and a touch more breathing room. Otherwise, the floor plan was merely tweaked, flipping the position of the second living room to face the garden, and creating a more private bedroom at the rear.
Eliza was hands-on in the material selections, specifying green accents across the kitchen joinery and living room carpet, and absolutely no white walls.
The new living room carpet and seagrass wallpaper are near perfect matches for the originals, while the previously beige and brown wet areas embrace a more playful spirit, with floor-to-ceiling tiles and tropical wallpaper.
‘I was very strong on the idea of a fun, colourful and playful powder room for guests to walk into, use and admire,’ says Eliza.
Much of the existing furniture was purchased with the house, including the low-back lounge chairs (since reupholstered in orange velvet), Parker dining table, bar stools, and several ceramic lamps.
Every space has been touched in the renovation, although you wouldn’t know it, with the bar, stained glass, timber screens, and glass ceiling lights all completely retained and restored.
Where required, new joinery, door hardware, and handles were carefully selected to closely match the originals, with more than 40 timber samples prepared and reviewed in the process.
‘We are proud that it is difficult to tell what is old and what is new,’ says Eliza.
Almost every room looks out to landscaping by Fiona Brockhhoff Design (installed by Jones Landscapes), where a backdrop of lush greenery is in perfect balance with the home’s mid-century feel.
‘We also really love how Fiona was able to match the outdoor stonework with the inside terrazzo to achieve the flow between inside and out,’ Eliza adds.
The most significant changes to the property are the least visually obvious, including high performance windows, a new roof, and a 13.5kW rooftop solar array.
Altogether, the restoration is true to Ernest’s original design, while being tailor made for self-described homebodies Eliza and Andrew, who love their Sunday lie-ins reading the papers, and listening to music in the sun. The house feels warm, relaxed, and cosy — a testament to Ernest’s enduring vision.
Eliza says, ‘We feel this was fairly easy to achieve due to the architectural design and the mid-century ethos of the home.’
An edited version of this story originally appeared in The Design Files Magazine Issue 04. Subscribe to the biannual print magazine here.